Graphic greetings spread Hall-iday cheer
Graphic design students got a real-world assignment, courtesy of President Kermit L. Hall.
Hall commissioned an advanced graphic design class to make his holiday card, with the top four choices receiving scholarship awards.
In a contest in Art 4420 (Advanced Graphic Design I), professor Bob Winward had his students create a seasonal or holiday card for Hall to send out in December.
Jeremiah Murray, a graphic design senior who just graduated but won’t walk until spring, designed the card that Hall picked as the winner. Murray won a $125 scholarship.
Murray said he spent 10 to 15 hours on the card, which he said was inspired in part by a Russian book called “Metal Art.” He first took a digital camera and went around campus taking pictures of things that reminded him of winter. One of the challenges, he said, was excluding religious symbols.
“It wasn’t a Merry Christmas card, it was a holiday seasonal greeting card,” Murray said.
Winward said, “The president actually had specific requirements.”
Senior Jennifer Ward, a graphic design student, said, “We had to portray Utah State.”
Winward said that in past years, the cards for the president’s office were painted by art students.
This year, the cards were made by graphic designers using Adobe PhotoShop and Illustrator.
“We had to showcase our abilities to use the software to come up with a holiday card,” Ward said, who won second place in the contest.
Ward won a $100 scholarship, and third-place winner Mike Daines received $75.
Daines said his card was “supposed to represent an explosion of thought.”
“I sort of wanted it to be out there,” said Daines, a senior in graphic design. “A kind of postmodern design.”
Daines, who is minoring in marketing, is already working in his field. He designs for Thinker Creative Group, a local advertising agency.
Winward, who had two sections of his class (45 students) work on the project, said it’s great for students to be able to have “client-imposed projects.” Most classwork is merely made to be handed in, he said, and when students design work for a client, it gives them more of a taste of the real world.
“When design students have to solve a client-imposed problem it doesn’t mean that they can’t do it in a way that is creative, is artistic, that involves them and their own experiences as well … it can be every bit as personal and expressive,” Winward said.
Describing her card, Ward said, “I took a photo of my fishbowl, and used PhotoShop and Illustrator. I kind of wanted to make it look like an icy galaxy, or milky way. I would say I spent a good 20 hours on it.”
Winward said, “One of the things that made it a challenging project is that it’s a holiday card. It can’t be denominational, it can’t be a Christmas card. No religious symbology.”
About the general association of winter with Christmas, Ward said, “It was a little hard just because it’s so cliché, it’s what you usually think of.”
Fourth-place winner Eric Westover said the assignment was to include photos, original illustrations, computer art, and it could be abstract or realistic. Westover, who won $50, said there were a number of great designs that were looked over.
“It all depends on the taste and preference of President Hall,” said Westover, a senior in graphic design. “I thought there were tons of others that were way better than mine.”
Westover, who included some of the stained glass of Old Main in the background in his card, said it was a little hard because of the restrictions and limitations.
Winward said that doing projects for a real client is good practice for the students, and he welcomes more “client-imposed” assignments.
Every summer since 2001, graphic design students have travelled to Switzerland, led by the French-speaking Winward. Last year, the students met the president of Swatch Corporation, and now some of the students are designing Swatches that could be in the fall 2005 catalog.
-marklaroc@cc.usu.edu